It's a 慰安ing favourite, but can an egg and cress 挟む ever be 価値（がある） £6? SARAH RAINEY tries M&S's 'posh' 見解／翻訳／版 of one of our 中心的要素 sarnies

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The humble egg 挟む has been a lunchtime 中心的要素 for more than a century and, によれば a 調査する this week by Hovis, almost a fifth of Brits say it’s their favourite 挟む.

It’s amassing a younger fanbase, too: 統計（学） show that social マスコミ について言及するs of ‘egg 挟む’ have 増加するd by 49 per cent in the past year, and on TikTok ― the 壇・綱領・公約 of choice for trendy foodies ― recipe ビデオs for egg 挟むs total 169 million.

Now M&S is jumping on the bandwagon, with a ‘Posh Egg Mayo and Watercress’ which they 開始する，打ち上げるd for an 注目する，もくろむ-watering £6.

深い-filled with creamy egg mayonnaise, 濃厚にするd with salad cream and fresh chives, with an extra 層 of sliced 解放する／自由な-範囲 egg, baby watercress and ロケット／急騰する leaves, it’s 挟むd together with 厚い slices of wholegrain bread (nine 穀物s, to be 正確な).

Sarah Rainey 実験（する）s M&S's ‘Posh Egg Mayo and Watercress’ sarnie

The price alone 原因（となる）d such a 熱狂的興奮状態 this week ― with shoppers wondering how M&S can 正当化する 非難する so much and what makes it different to its bog-基準 ‘Egg and Watercress’ 挟む, which costs just £2.50.

Thanks to the Mail 発言する／表明するing 顧客 関心s, the 蓄える／店 発表するd this week that the price has been 削減（する） to £5 with 即座の 影響.

A spokesperson 最高潮の場面d the ‘luxurious’ mayo with its ‘richer flavour’ and dubbed the 挟む an ‘indulgent lunchtime 選択’.

They （人命などを）奪う，主張する it’s a ‘顧客 favourite’ ― and, sure enough, at my 地元の 支店 of M&S, no より小数の than five 顧客s in 前線 of me in the 列 buy one for their lunch.

Why do people love the retro combination so much? Helen 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大なs, 挟む 専門家 (@foodstories on Instagram) and author of 101 挟むs, says there’s something ‘慰安ing’ about egg mayo, which explains why it’s never gone out of fashion.

‘普通は 挟むs are all about contrast, but with an egg 挟む it’s pretty much all one colour and texture ― it’s soft and delicious in your mouth,’ she explains.

‘It’s an accessible 挟む. There’s nothing fancy or frilly about it.

‘Most people have eggs in the house, so it’s 蓄える／店 cupboard-friendly and, unless you’re vegan, most people eat eggs, so it’s a （人が）群がる-pleaser, too.’

Max Halley, 創立者 of 教団 London restaurant Max’s 挟む Shop, whose 創造s have appeared on the cover of Esquire, says the nation’s obsession comes 負かす／撃墜する to ‘nostalgia’.

‘It’s embedded in our perception of British 挟むs,’ he 追加するs. ‘You know what you’re getting with an egg 挟む. It 供給するs the same cosy feeling as sitting 負かす／撃墜する for a boiled egg and 兵士s on a Sunday night.’

Maybe I’ve had a 一連の bad egg 挟むs in my time, but I’ve never been a fan. My £6 lunch, even with its posh 一括ing and that OTT M&S description, looks squishy, eggy and not very nice.

My £6 lunch, even with its posh 一括ing and that OTT M&S description, looks squishy, eggy and not very nice?

The contents of the box, however, are a 発覚. The 挟む halves are 抱擁する, a real handful, and the bread is 厚い, soft and smells freshly baked. Those nine 穀物s, I learn, are sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds, malted wheat, millet, golden linseed, 巨大な oats, malted wheat flakes and brown linseed.

同様に as butter and green leaves, there’s a generous splodge of egg mayo and I can see chunky slices of hard-boiled egg, with 日光-yellow yolks, that （不足などを）補う 39 per cent of the 挟む (com pared with 36 per cent in the 正規の／正選手 mayo one).

The moment of truth: my first bite. It’s like a mouthful of summer ― tangy salad cream, rich salty eggs, pillowy bread and a citrussy freshness that comes from the crunchy ロケット／急騰する. M&S says that it 含む／封じ込めるs 150g of mayo, egg and salad, but my 規模s reckon it’s more like 166g, which is a step up from 115g in the cheaper 挟む.

And the texture is a 勝利者 ― the combination of velvety yolks and melt-in-the-mouth whites with the わずかに chewy bread is 満足させるing. It’s filling, too: the pack 重さを計るs 280g, almost twice the 普通の／平均（する） supermarket 申し込む／申し出ing.

The 挟む comes in at 528 calories, with 5.1 g of fibre, 25.4 g of protein and 5.3 g ― just over a teaspoon ― of sugar.

My only problem is the price tag. I may have been won over on taste, but it’s hard to 正当化する £5 let alone the 初めの £6. So could I make a cheaper 見解／翻訳／版, に引き続いて the recipe as closely as possible, at home?

‘The bread needs to be soft,’ says Max Halley. ‘With 最高の-soft bread ― whether brown or white ― everything stays in place when you 選ぶ it up to take a bite.’

I plump for M&S’s 最高の-seeded loaf (£1.60), which 含む／封じ込めるs at least six of the requisite 穀物s.

Next: I buy six of their 解放する／自由な-範囲 eggs (£1.75) and, as per egg doyenne Delia Smith’s 指示／教授／教育s, boil them for seven minutes. Once cooked, I 冷静な／正味の them and peel off the 爆撃するs. I chop four of the eggs, slice the other two. This should fill two hefty 挟むs. To make the base for the egg mayo, I scour the M&S 成分s 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） and find salad cream, vinegar (malt), lemon juice, 情熱 (Dijon) and chives.

Egg 挟むs are cheap, cheerful and unashamedly not posh?

Life’s too short to make your own mayonnaise, so I 得る，とらえる a 瓶／封じ込める of Hellmann’s and 追加する eight tablespoons to the chopped egg, along with a squirt of salad cream, a dash of each of the other 成分s, 加える salt and pepper.

I spread half the egg mayo as delicately as I can on the bread and lay a whole sliced egg on 最高の，を越す.

Finally, I 得る，とらえる a handful of M&S’s 有機の baby leaf ロケット／急騰する salad (£2.30 per 捕らえる、獲得する) ― and 圧力（をかける） the two halves 堅固に together.

Looks-wise, it’s sloppier than the 初めの, but the taste is pretty 同一の. It’s not やめる perfection, but it’s about as の近くに as I’ll get with an egg 挟む.

And the cost? Even buying every 選び出す／独身 成分 from M&S didn’t get me の近くに to £6 per 挟む: 地雷 （機の）カム to £1.45, which feels fitting for the humble 軽食.

That’s the thing about egg 挟むs. They’re cheap, cheerful and unashamedly not posh ― no 事柄 what it says on the packet.

BEST OF THE REST

M&S Egg and Watercress 挟む, £2.50

The cheap a lternative to the posh newcomer. It’s served on malted brown bloomer. The 割合 of filling to bread is 1:2, so it’s not bountiful but a decent lunch.

3/5

Aldi Egg and Cress 挟む with Mayo, £1.19

Cheap-as-半導体素子s and no frills: just chopped egg, mayonnaise and a few 記念品 bits of salad cress. More than half the 挟む (55 per cent) is filling, but this makes the bread a bit damp.

2/5

Waitrose Egg Mayo and Cress 挟む, £2.50

This 申し込む／申し出ing is made from 解放する／自由な-範囲 egg, mayonnaise and salad cress, served on malted bread. It’s flavoursome and moreish.

4/5

Co-op Egg and Cress 挟む, £1.75

Generously filled, it looks more expensive than it is. The bread is soft and 厚い, and it comes in an attractive packet.

5/5

Tesco Egg and Cress 挟む, £1.50

As it 明言する／公表するs on the packet, this 含む／封じ込めるs ‘just egg and cress’. The cress tastes fresh and 甘い. But there’s a 自由主義の 量 of mayo inside which 影を投げかけるs the delicate flavour of the egg.

3/5

Morrisons Egg and Cress 挟む, £1.50

井戸／弁護士席-seasoned and handmade fresh, this 挟む is a 削減（する） above. There’s a punch of 情熱 in the mayo and the yolks are nicely yellow.

4/5